Transcript Ch04_sec2 Natural Selection MG

The Organization of Life
Section 2
Chapter 4
The Organization of Life
Section 2: Evolution
DAY 1
The Organization of Life
Natural Selection
• English naturalist Charles Darwin
observed that organisms in a population
differ slightly from each other in form,
function, and behavior.
• Some of these differences are
hereditary.
• Darwin proposed that the environment
exerts a strong influence over which
individuals survive to produce offspring,
and that some individuals, because of
certain traits, are more likely to survive
and reproduce than other individuals are.
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The Organization of Life
Natural Selection
• Natural selection is the process by
which individuals that have favorable
variations and are better adapted to their
environment survive and reproduce
more successfully than less well adapted
individuals do.
• Darwin proposed that over many
generations, natural selection causes
the characteristics of populations to
change.
• Evolution is a change in the
characteristics of a population from one
generation to the next.
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The Organization of Life
Evolution YouTube!
Bill Nye Explains
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The Organization of Life
Nature Selects
• Darwin thought that nature selects
for certain traits, such as sharper
claws, because organisms with
these traits are more likely to
survive.
• Over time, the population includes
a greater and greater proportion of
organisms with the beneficial
trait.
• As the populations of a given
species change, so does the
species.
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The Organization of Life
Natural Selection
Section 2
The Organization of Life
Nature Selects
• An example of natural selection is a
population of deer that became isolated in
a cold area.
• Some of the deer had genes for thicker,
warmer fur.
• These deer were more likely to survive,
and their young with thick fur were more
likely to survive to reproduce.
• Adaptation is the process of becoming
adapted to an environment.
• It is an anatomical, physiological, or
behavioral change that improves a
population’s ability to survive.
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The Organization of Life
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Adaptations Explained via YouTube!
Adaptation Song
The Organization of Life
Coevolution
• The process of two species evolving in
response to long-term interactions with
each other is called coevolution.
• An example is the Hawaiian
honeycreeper, which has a long, curved
beak to reach nectar at the base of a
flower.
• The flower has structures that ensure that
the bird gets some pollen on its head.
• When the bird moves the next flower,
some of the pollen will be transferred,
helping it to reproduce.
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The Organization of Life
Nature Selects
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The Organization of Life
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Coevolution
• The honeycreeper’s adaptation is a long, curved beak.
• The plant has two adaptations:
– The first is the sweet nectar, which attracts the birds.
– The second is the flower structure that forces pollen
onto the bird’s head when the bird sips nectar.
The Organization of Life
Artificial Selection
• Artificial selection is the selective breeding
of organisms, by humans, for specific
desirable characteristics.
• Dogs have been bred for certain
characteristics.
• Fruits, grains, and vegetables are also
produced by artificial selection.
• Humans save seeds from the largest and
sweetest fruits.
• By selecting for these traits, farmers direct
the evolution of crop plants to produce larger,
sweeter fruit.
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The Organization of Life
Natural Selection of Resistance
• Resistance is the ability of an organism
to tolerate a chemical or diseasecausing agent.
• An organism may be resistant to a
chemical when it contains a gene that
allows it to break down a chemical
into harmless substances.
• Humans promote resistant populations
by trying to control pests and bacteria
with chemicals.
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The Organization of Life
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Pesticide Resistance
• A pesticide sprayed on corn to kill grasshoppers, for example, may
kill most of the grasshoppers, but those that survive happen to have
a gene that protects them from the pesticide.
• These surviving insects pass on this resistant gene to their
offspring.
• Each time the corn is sprayed; more grasshoppers that are resistant
enter the population.
• Eventually the entire population will be resistant, making the
pesticide useless.
The Organization of Life
Pesticide Resistance
Section 2